Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Silversea Water Cooler: Part 3, Welcome!

Host Dan

By Host Dan,
in Silversea

 Share

Recommended Posts

UKCruiseJeff

UKCruiseJeff

Posted
Posted
Since my new job will allow me to cook more, I promise to post more pictures!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

I'm really pleased you decided to take the trouble to share your piccies. I love looking at what others prepare. I have always believed that preparing food for others, even if only for one "other" is one of the few things you do that shows you love and care. It doesn't matter whether the end result is excellent or not so excellent, it is the time and trouble and effort, and I think you can always tell if someone has simply tried. In fact when someone tries but fails miserably you can see how hard they tried and it demonstrates the same level of love as a proficient effort.

 

I always think when I see those really poor rural societies where mum is preparing flatbreads for her family that there can be no better iconic picture of how a mum loves her family than making sure that however poor they are they will be full of the daily bread that she has prepared with her own hands if nothing else. Perhaps thats why I love flatbreads so much ... it seems to symbolise something primeval.

 

Anyway I seem to have gone over all emotional so I'll get a grip now ...

 

:)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Camillus112

Camillus112

Posted
Posted

Shots, I heartily congratulate you for your food offerings. Wish I cold partake! As I've said before, I don't cook, and Jeff, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am very appreciative of those that do, and wish the fairies had given me the gift of WANTING to cook. Sandwiches and salads, that's all I do.

 

Jeff, no wonder you don't feel tempted to travel too much away from your idyllic balcony. Interesting information on the Napoleonic history of your bay. I read it with gusto and reminded me of a bit of history of my ocean (Atlantic, north side of the Island). My family traces roots to a famous (infamous?) Caribbean pirate named Roberto Cofresí y Ramírez de Arellano (the latter being my maiden name). In the 1600's he overtook many a booty from the Spaniards, and legend has it he shared with the poor. However, when the Dutch menaced to overtake the island, he helped the Spaniards defeat them. For this, he was give a title and was left in peace. I love this history tidbits.

 

Now, with regards to the article you just shared.... I can only share back my thought that the pendulum of polarization always rests in the center. Let's hope for a resting period.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
UKCruiseJeff

UKCruiseJeff

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi,

 

Just googles and read about your ancestor. So interesting. Of course ours was the first generation that had the benefit of the internet to make these things achievable.

 

When I met wifey it transpired that her mothers maiden name was of Spanish (or possibly Portuguese) origin. And so my mother-in-law who had been left in a children's home when a baby had always presumed that her father was Spanish. In fact she died believing that to be so.

 

A few years ago, being bored and having just bought myself a years subscription to one of those heritage tracking databases I started researching wife's family. Within a day or two I managed to get back to great grandfather and his details triangulated exactly, so there was no doubt I'd found him. And I managed to find put quite a lot about him. He had been a sailor in his early years and ended up as a waiter in London and he met wifey's great grandmother. I even found his sailor record and a photograph of him. The only issue was, that he wasn't Spanish but from a small village a few hours from Buenos Aires in Argentina! I had to break the news to wifey early one morning when she got up and came down. Now she feels enormous solidarity with the Argentinians and the British terrible occupation of the Malvinas.

 

I should add, that there were some odd and puzzling discrepancies, which are too complex to remember let alone write, but one explanation explained everything. It wasn't clear initially whether he was wifey's grandfather or great grandfather because he appeared to be both when looking at the census. But what seemed to have happened was that "he" had mother out of wedlock (this smooth talking Argentinians) and that his mother registered wifey's mother as hers, ie therefore wifey's mother appeared to be living in the same household with her Dad as though there were brother and sister with a large age difference, but then wifey's mum was placed in a child's home. The registering of a baby out of wedlock by a grandmother I have since found out was quite common in those days because it avoided scandal. This explained quite a lot of vagueness that surrounded wifey's mum's parentage.

 

 

I wish I could have told mum, she would have loved the story.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited by UKCruiseJeff
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jpalbny "Live from...." Rare

jpalbny

Posted
Posted

Busy cooler this weekend! We made a quick getaway to NY City Friday night and just got home a few hours ago. We were celebrating my first 49th birthday, hopefully the first of many...not really interested in the next decade but not much I can do about it!

 

We have been staying in the NoMad neighborhood (NOrth of MADison square park) the past few times and we've really come to enjoy that part of the City. We found a last-minute room at the Nomad Hotel on 28th and Broadway, and drove down Friday night after work. Traffic was surprisingly light and we were parked and checked in about 3h after leaving home, which is amazing for that drive. It usually takes longer.

 

We had a casual meal Friday night at the Belgian Beer Cafe, a block from the hotel. I tried a few Belgian beers to go with moules et frites, and Chris had some nice wine with Steak Frites.

 

36ad02b87ed4b743ace28638c323a681.jpg

 

On Saturday morning we had coffee and pastries then walked all the way down to Houston St. (One block south of 1st St, so 28 blocks), stopping at Madison Square Park, and Union Square Park on the way. There was a huge farmers market in the latter which made for a pleasant browse. From Houston St, we walked through NYU and Washington Square Park to see the Monumental Arch (like the Arc de Triomphe).

 

a47c38989afa711941f50039e01fdff0.jpg

 

Then of course, we headed back north and stopped at Eataly. After all that walking we grabbed pizza and drinks.

 

450ad26d1ef03ca4076e87d4033f307b.jpg

 

01fe9ba7a865333bb51c8c7b7870164f.jpg

 

Then browsed the store for a bit. We didn't shop (yet) as we were waiting until today. So after resting our feet for a bit we walked uptown along 5th to Rockefeller Center. They still had the ice rink and people were skating despite the 60 degree weather! Then we walked home for a more serious rest.

 

Dinner was a fantastic tasting menu at Gabriel Kreuther, near Bryant Park. We had a multicourse tasting meal, paired with wines by the glass. The sommelier was quite good and her pairings were eclectic but tasty. We even learned a few new wine styles and varietals, which is always a bonus. That took care of food and drink for Saturday. We were stuffed!

 

This morning we went shopping at Eataly for some fresh ingredients. I love the high-quality dried pasta that they have there and also the hard grating cheeses. I picked up some prosciutto, pancetta, and sopressatta sausage as well as a few fine olive oils. Eataly is like a candy store for me and it was a fun birthday present!

 

On the way home we stopped off for lunch at a little out of the way restaurant about an hour south of Albany called the Mountain Brauhaus. They have Schweinshaxe and Schnitzel (veal, not pork, sorry Jeff) with all the right accompaniments, and German beer on tap. Some Spaten and a light Bock fit the bill for me. It made me miss our trip to Munich last spring.

 

d28bc2e753800b048f926e143ae50a43.jpg

 

7f3e0c279dd23c7c837a3799040180ad.jpg

 

So we're home now, looking at the nasty weather and hoping that mysty is safely in Florida. It was a fun birthday and I wish the celebration could go on a little longer, but unfortunately work calls tomorrow. Hope everyone else's weekend was fun too; sounds like it's been busy! Great catching up with everyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Camillus112

Camillus112

Posted
Posted

Yes, Jeff, what a wonderful story about your wife's family! Don't you think this is what make us so special? Let me tell you that in Spanish, and, therefore Latin American, tradition there were no orphanages. The families would keep the babies as they would see fit to avoid scandal. In my mother's family in the late 1800's, several babies, some of mixed race, were brought up within the family, and woe to whoever disdain them, they had the family name! Spaniards that settled in the Caribbean were quite inclusive in terms of race.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Camillus112

Camillus112

Posted
Posted

JP, happy birthday!! I was missing your posts and thought, rightly, that you were traveling. We go to the City quite often due to DH's music thing; he hates it and I love it. Since we live in a rural paradise, going to urban hell is so exciting!! Eataly is always a must do for DH, as he is the cook at home. I don't particularly like the area, but the store is amazing. I prefer to stay around 7th and 56th, right near Carnegie Hall. DH likes to stay nearest Lincoln Center. We compromise and sometimes stay at the East Side. New York City is so much fun!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
UKCruiseJeff

UKCruiseJeff

Posted
Posted

Good afternoon all ......

 

Very much appreciate the anniversary good wishes, and what we tend to do is drink one or three and reflect on all the things that have happened since that day 43 years ago in a couple of days time when I finally agreed to make the ultimate sacrifice and agreed to her constant badgering to marry her. She wore a white trouser suit and hat and I tried hard not to look like what I now know to be Homer Simpson. She was and is gorgeous and has made what is the fickly finger of fate when you find and marry a stranger into being a perfect fit. 43 years ago today'ish ie a day or so before our anniversary we took over our home which was completely bare apart from wallpapaper and other stuff that was 30 years old and spent the day preparing the home for both us and our young son to live in and to be the venue for our impending wedding celebrations. We couldn't afford a hall and a home. There was no phone, or electric and certainly no modern heating. And we got stuck in. On the morning of our wedding I peeled off what paint I could from my fingers, stopped making sandwiches, opened and put out the last of the bowls of crisps and drove to the council office to sit in front of a registrar to plight my troth.

 

Our buffet table was going to be a fold down wallpaper pasting table, the obvious consequence of which ie the collapse under the weight of a plate of sandwiches we had failed to predict. The music for our wedding celebrations was to be an 8 track car player (remember those? ie you listen to two tunes playing at the same time .....) plugged into my car battery which had been taken out of the car once I got back from getting married and plugged into two speakers I had made. Our wedding night was tidying up the house nad making somewhere to sleep out of the wedding debris.

 

Luckily I married someone who had no idea what a bad deal she was entering into and doesn't complain.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
spinnaker2 "Live from...." Rare

spinnaker2

Posted
Posted

Great beginning Jeff!

And 43 years later you are still together. Marvelous and heart warming commitment and rare in these times! Truly a milestone, not a millstone.

 

Was just looking at webcam for Port Everglades. Unfortunately the camera is trained on another vessel and one can not see the Wind. The weather is gorgeous and 73 F now, projected to 80 F. Terrific day for a sail away.

I see no mist or Mysty. I hope she is sleeping late and eating strawberries with her consort.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ShotsnCruises

ShotsnCruises

Posted
Posted

Well Coolers, It was back to work today. I am finally settled in the new office and keeping a fairly busy schedule, although I have at least another month before my caseload is full. I still have an hour here and there to troll the boards! :D I better enjoy it while I still can.

 

Tonight I will be making Mexican food for dinner. I am not sure what exactly, but it will have chicken and Poblano peppers. The hubby requested chips (crisps for those of you on the other side of the pond) and my homemade salsa. So, I will come home and be inspired. I will try to remember to post pictures before it gets eaten.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Camillus112

Camillus112

Posted
Posted

Jeff, what a heartwarming memory of your wedding day and your young bride! Our wedding was very traditional, but lovely memories anyway.

 

JP, I have a story about birthdays. When my mother turned 91 she decided she would transpose the numbers when referring to her age; thus she was 19. This was quite a joke in our family and continued until she was 98 (or 89). When she turned 99 she smiled and said "This is it, because if I turn 100 (001) I'll be in the womb. She died at 99 and we all remember her very dearly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...